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Raheem Sterling has warned Premier League players will need at least a month of training before games can restart.

England star Sterling says he “cannot wait” to get back to playing games after more than two months of lockdown after the coronavirus.

But Sterling has insisted that it will take time after such a long lay-off for players to get back to match fitness and sharpness.

Premier League bosses will take the first steps to getting back to training this week with the plan to try and get back to games by mid-June.

Manchester City forward Sterling believes it must not be rushed and players will need up to five weeks if they are to play at a top level.

Man City and Raheem Sterling are still aiming for a cup treble (Image: Getty Images)

Sterling, in an interview with Megan Rapinoe on his YouTube channel, said: “You can’t come back in with one and a half weeks, two weeks.

“You’d need a full four to five weeks, especially if you’re going to go back into competition, when you’re literally paid to win. You do need to do that preparation – you can’t just go straight in.

“They're trying to have games starting on 12th June but we're still waiting on the government to give the go ahead, the clubs are in talks, doing their best to try and find the best resolution. We've had a few Zoom meetings cancelled to talk about the restart.

Raheem Sterling reckons players may need four to five weeks to prepare (Image: Alex Livesey)

“The beginning (of lockdown) was definitely weird then I started to say to myself I can’t keep doing this, I can’t just be in this dark room playing my Call of Duty for six or seven hours, I just got a little schedule in.

“I felt lost for the first couple of weeks but then it just flew by. I can’t wait to get back out there.

“We’ve had a lot of gym sessions on Zoom, we’ve had our programmes being sent over to us, so I’ve been trying my best to keep up with the plan.

“It’s the first time I’ve shut down since I was 17. I’ve not literally stopped. The most time I’ve had off is three weeks so it feels strange.”